Traditionally, disposable absorbent garments such as infant diapers or training pants, adult incontinence products and other such products were constructed with a moisture-impervious outer backsheet, a moisture-pervious body-contacting inner topsheet, and a moisture-absorbent core sandwiched between the liner and backsheet. In typical diaper-type garments, the garment is affixed to a wearer by attaching one or more fastener tabs that extend across the wearer's hips to hold the back and front halves of the garment to one another.
Researchers have sought to improve upon fastener tabs for absorbent garments. The task of designing a universally suitable fastener tab is complicated by the fact that the fasteners are used on a great number of different wearers, all having slightly to very different body shapes and sizes. Also complicating the design of fastener tabs is the fact that the wearers typically move their bodies while the fasteners are attached, sometimes causing the tabs to become loose, uncomfortable or even unfastened. Yet another factor complicating the task of fastener tab design is the fact that the caregivers applying the tabs do so in a variety of ways that may or may not be suitable to properly affix tabs of the particular design being applied.
A number of different tab designs have been explored to provide suitable fit, comfort, leakage prevention, and other benefits. Typical fastener tabs are inelastic plastic tabs having an adhesive or hook-and-loop gripping portion. Such tabs may be attached directly to the diaper chassis or may have an elastic region interposed between the chassis and the inboard edge of the grip, such as is disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,624,429 issued to Long et al., which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety and in a manner consistent with the present invention. Other fastener tabs have been made that have an elasticized portion that extends all the way to the end of the tab, and have the grip attached directly to one side of the elastic portion at the outboard end, typically rendering that portion of the fastener tab inelastic. Such tabs are disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,800,796 issued to Jacob, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety and in a manner consistent with the present invention.
Despite these and other efforts by absorbent garment manufacturers and others to provide suitable fastener tabs for absorbent garments, there is still a need to provide a more comfortable, better fitting, and easily applied fastener tab. These are just a few of the disadvantages of the prior art that the preferred embodiments seek to address.